Suture anchors are medical devices which are used to attach soft tissue to bone. A suture anchor can have a variety of configurations. One type of suture anchor, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,156, which is incorporated by reference, has superelastic arc members extending from an anchor member. Other suture anchors have screw threads and cutting flutes such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,100, which is incorporated by reference. Yet another suture anchor configuration can be described as a wedge type anchor as disclosed in commonly owned copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/235,737 (Docket No. ETH-923), which is incorporated by reference.
Suture anchors typically have mounting members, such as eyelets, for receiving a surgical suture. Typically, a surgical needle is mounted to each end of the suture. The initial step in a surgical procedure using a suture anchor to mount soft tissue to bone is for the surgeon to drill a blind bore hole in bone using a conventional surgical drill. Then, a suture anchor, typically mounted to the distal end of an application device, is inserted into the bore hole such that the anchor body is lodged in the bone beneath the hard outer cortex of the bone, such that the surgical suture extends out from the bone bore hole. Next, the surgeon, utilizing the surgical needles attached to the surgical suture, affixes soft tissue adjacent to the bone surface. The surgeon then secures the approximated soft tissue with the suture using conventional surgical knots and knotting techniques, and finally cuts the surgical needles and excess suture away from the knots. The soft tissue is now approximated next to an appropriate bone site where it can heal and reattach to the bone surface. The types of soft tissue which can be approximated include ligaments, tendons, cartilage, muscle, skin, organs and the like.
It is critical that the suture anchor and surgical suture and attached needles be easily removed from a package during surgery. It is also critical that the package protect the suture anchor, suture and needles during sterilization, and store and handling prior to use in a surgical procedure.
There is a need in this art for novel packages for suture anchors which provide superior ease of use in the field during surgical procedures, and which are economical to manufacture while still protecting the suture anchor, sutures and needles during shipping, handling and storage.